Half to samuel g



(No Model.)

' R. L. COHEN.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. 327,382. Patented Sept. 29, 1885 Ill *1)" z Ml WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ROBERT L. COHEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO SAMUEL G. DIEHL, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,382, dated September 29, 1885.

Application filed March 20, 1885. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. COHEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to mechanism whereby the electric current is transmitted from the dynamo or other source of supply to the motor in the car in an electric-railway system; and it consists of an improved form of rigid metallic conductor, of wheel-brush, and of con necting means to convey the current from the brush to the motor, so. constructed as to adapt it to inequalities in the road-bed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is 2Q a car illustrating the application of the improved parts. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the connecting mechanism, wheel brush, rigid metallic conductor, and rail; Fig. 3, a front view of said connecting mechanism and brush,

and Fig. 4 a transverse section of same through line a a.

Itis unnecessary to an understanding of my invention and of its mode of application to describe an electric railway or the car and its motor. It is sufficient to say that the electric current is conveyed from a dynamo or other source of supply through a rigid metallic conductor located over or near and in a line with the rail, and from such conductor the current is taken up by contact with a brush moving along the surface thereof, and so carried by mechanism connected with the motor and the car.

My improvement applies, first, to the rigid o metallic conductor, and consists in constructing it with an open base to avoid frictional contact with the moving brush other than at the desired part, and also so shaping it that water or other extraneous substances shall not 4 5 drip or fall on the brush. I prefer to construct it with a rounded internal top surface toft a wheel-brush having a convex periphery, and for this purpose it may properly be a section of atube (less than half) to give it flaring sides,

as seen at G, Fig. 2, or it maybe a full half with ribbed edges, and provided with outside lateral ribs or flanges to serve as deflectingsurfaces for water. In order further to protect such conducting-tube from the elements, and so increase its conductivity, and also for 5 a support for the same, I provide a shield or cover, N, to and beneath which said tube is secured, and which in turn is bolted to the rai1sleeper.

It is obvious that other forms of brush may be used with this construction of the tubeconductor.

The brush F herein shown consists of one or more metallic wheels capable of conducting an electric current, having a bearing-surface against the tube-conductor and revolving on a journal or journals, L, having bearings in the connecting mechanism forming another part of my improvement.

It will be seen that the car, carrying the elec- 7o tric motor which propels it, moves upon the rails H, bringing the body of the car immediately over the tube -conductor G, the elec tric current being taken up and conveyed from said tubeconductor to the motor in the car 7 5 through the connecting mechanism shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, which consists of two plates or bars, Aand B, provided with a dovetailed recess and projection, respectively, (see T, Fig. 4,) serving as a vertical guide. 8c

A crossbar, G, carrying a vertical rod, E, is secured to the plate or bar B, carrying the wheel-brush F, which rod E moves downward within acoiled pull-spring, M, located between said crossbar O on the plate B and a second cross-bar, D, on the plate A. Said cross-bar D is recessed vertically to allow the end of the rod E to pass through it, and said cross-bar D serves as a support for the spring M, the obj ect of this construction being that the upward spring-pressure will bring the surface of the brush against the tubeconductor, and at the same time the plates A and B, constituting the connecting mechanism with the car, will slide vertically one within the other,when meeting with any inequalities in the road-bed, and avoid jarring and loosening of the parts. The plate A is secured to the body ofthe car at S, and the current is conveyed therefrom at b b by wires leading to the motor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In an electric railway, a rigid metallic conductor leading the current from the dynamo or other source of supply to a brush moving freely therein provided with a rounded internal upper surface and flaring or flanged sides, as set forth.

2. In an electric railway system wherein a car is propelled by means of a motor driven by an electric current supplied through a rigid metallic conductor by means of a moving brush, mechanism for connecting said brush with the motor, consisting of two bars or plates sliding vertically, one within the otlier,against spring-pressure applied between them, one of which bars being rigidly attached to the ear 

